The number is even bigger than the 2000 Spring Festival transportation season's figure of more than 1.5 billion.

However, all the passengers did not travel for family reunions, as Chinese traditionally have done so in the Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, which fell on January 23 this year.

A recent survey showed 44.96 million of the passengers spending the holiday touring scenic spots and historical sites.

Shenzhen, a booming city bordering Hong Kong, hosted more than two million tourists during the period.

Many of the passengers, including 150,000 from Shanghai, China' s largest industrial and commercial city, enjoyed themselves in such foreign countries as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and Australia.

Although Spring Festival celebrations usually last 15 days, an increasing number of people cut short their holidays and rushed back to work.

"I value family reunions, but I got to work," said Xue Min, a 20-year-old girl working at a hotel in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province.

Sociologists said that as Chinese people are leading a busier and more colorful life, family reunions are no longer the only theme of Chinese Lunar New Year, though they still prevail in festival activities.

(Xinhua 02/18/2001)